Armenia: Prime Minister Calls For New Constitution Eurasia Review
Day: January 19, 2024
Recent statement and rhetoric from Azerbaijan’s leaders continue to challenge Armenia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and the effort to achieve lasting peace in the region, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said Friday while speaking to reporters in Zagreb, Croatia.
“Unfortunately, we see rhetoric and statements of the high-level Azerbaijani officials that continue to challenge the rule-based order, territorial integrity, sovereignty of Armenia and, hence, the prospects of lasting peace in the region,” Mirzoyan said during a joint press conference with his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Grlić Radman.
In response to reporter’s question, Mirzoyan accused Azerbaijan of refusing resume the negotiations in the current existing framework.
”As I said, Armenia is engaged in negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith and we are more than interested in establishing lasting peace in our region. We believe that this will be beneficial not only for the people of Armenia, but for the countries in the region,” Mirzoyan said.
“However,” he said, “we are seeing that our constructiveness sometimes does not meet the same constructive approach in the behavior of our neighbors.”
After highlighting Baku’s refusal to take part in the current format of negotiations, which are being facilitated by the European Union and others, Mirzoyan explained that Yerevan continues to remain interested in talks.
‘We attach importance not so much to the issue of who facilitates the negotiations, but to the principles, according to which the negotiations should continue,” the Armenian foreign minister said, explaining that for Armenia the principles include, territorial integrity, recognition of legitimate borders, inviolability of borders, respect for each other’s sovereignty.
“These are the principles, according to which, I believe, peace should be achieved. When it comes to participation of Croatia or the European Union in general, I would like to express our appreciation that the EU and Croatia has shown in ensuring security in our region along the borders,” said Mirzoyan, referring to the EU monitoring mission currently deployed in Armenia.
“We believe our partners interested in stability in the South Caucasus share the same approach, that peace requires unwavering commitment and genuine interest in lasting solutions. Armenia’s position has been very clear on possible solutions based on well-known principles and agreements. Countries should recognize each other’s territorial integrity without any ambiguity,” said Mirzoyan.
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Vartan Oskanian, a former Armenian foreign minister, has announced that he will lead a political committee set by Nagorno-Karabakh’s main political factions exiled in Armenia to campaign for the “collective repatriation” of the region’s displaced population.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Thursday, Oskanian said the committee will reveal its composition and details of its activities “in the coming days.”
“The primary mission of the Committee is to advocate for and pursue the right of the collective repatriation of the Artsakh people with international guarantees, ensuring their safe, secure and dignified resettlement in their homeland,” he said.
“Achieving enduring peace in the region remains unattainable when a segment of the Armenian people is forcefully uprooted from its homeland, and a coerced notion of ‘peace’ is imposed upon Armenia, with the looming threat of further losses,” added Oskanian, who has increasingly criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s policy on the Karabakh conflict in recent years.
According to Davit Galstyan, a leader of Karabakh’s Justice party, the committee was set up by the exiled Karabakh parliament in early December.
“Since no Armenian officials raise our cause in the international arena, this is an opportunity to prevent the Artsakh issue from being completely forgotten,” Galstyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Friday.
Galstyan said the committee led by Oskanian should engage international actors that have called for the Karabakh Armenians’ safe return to their depopulated homeland recaptured by Azerbaijan as a result of its September military offensive. He did not say whether it will be ready to negotiate with the Azerbaijani government.
Baku has denied targeting Karabakh civilians during the two-day military operation or forcing them to flee the region in the following days. It has pledged to protect the rights of local residents willing to live under Azerbaijani rule. Karabakh’s leaders and ordinary residents ruled out such an option even before their exodus.
Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party indicated on Friday its disapproval of the initiative made public by Oskanian.
“I don’t believe that the repatriation is possible without a peace treaty [between Armenia and Azerbaijan,]” said Gevorg Papoyan, the party’s deputy chairman. “These are just going to be political speculations, attempts to draw political dividends.”
“I also won’t rule out provocations against Armenia by the fifth column,” Papoyan added without elaborating.
Pashinyan has repeatedly indicated that the Karabakh issue is closed for his administration. His political allies lashed out at Samvel Shahramanyan, the Karabakh president, late last month after he declared null and void his September 28 decree liquidating the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Shahramanyan said that he had to sign the decree in order to stop the Azerbaijani assault and enable the Karabakh Armenians to safely flee to Armenia.
Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chairs Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL), David G. Valadao (R-CA) and Adam B. Schiff (D-CA) released a statement on Friday condemning dangerous statements made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in his January 10 interview to local TV networks, laying claim to Armenian territory and refusing to withdraw his troops:
“President Aliyev’s most recent escalatory remarks, including his refusal to remove troops from Armenian territory, follow the same pattern he used in the build up to the ethnic cleansing of over 100,000 Armenians in Artsakh last fall. He makes hostile statements, uses those claims to justify further mobilizing his military, and then takes aggressive action because he believes there will not be any consequences. The international community has sadly proven him right with its inaction over the last few years,” said the statement.
“It is past time we hold his regime accountable for the belligerent rhetoric and actions it has taken against Armenians in the South Caucasus. The United States and our regional partners should use every diplomatic tool, including sanctions, to help guarantee the territorial integrity of Armenia and push back against Aliyev’s blatant threats against it,” the statement urged.
“We call on the State Department and our international partners to take immediate action to halt any further Azeri aggression and ensure Armenia’s safety and security,” the Congressional Armenian Caucus leaders added.
Artsakh Factions Come Together to Fight For ‘Collective Repatriation’ – Asbarez.com Asbarez Armenian News
DAVOS, Switzerland — At a dinner in the Swiss ski resort of Davos this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani hosted business and political leaders to showcase Iraq’s improved security and finances.
As the private event was about to end, two attendees told Reuters, news reached some guests that Iran had fired ballistic missiles at what it said was an Israeli “spy headquarters” in Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
“Some people at the dinner were checking if their houses have been hit,” said one guest, who asked not to be named because the dinner was closed to media.
The strikes by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the oil and gas rich region was the most direct intervention by Iran, and sparked fears of the Israel-Hamas conflict spreading in the Middle East.
While Iran’s proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels who have attacked shipping in the Red Sea off Yemen, have stepped in since it began in October last year, Tehran has made it clear it wants to avoid war with Israel.
But for some at the World Economic Forum (WEF), where the agenda was dominated by three areas of conflict in which Tehran is involved, the Iraq missile attack highlighted Iran’s desire to play a role in how the war in Gaza is resolved.
“The Iranians want a seat at the table,” a senior source with direct knowledge of Tehran’s thinking told Reuters, explaining its actions were meant to give Iran a voice and not allow the U.S. and Israel to dictate the outcome.
“The real question is ‘what is the end game for Iran and Hezbollah and now increasingly the Houthis?’ They don’t want Israel and the U.S. to dictate the pace of (the) Gaza war,” Vali Nasr, a Middle East expert at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said in Davos.
“One man’s escalation is another man’s deterrence.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the only official delegate from the Islamic Republic in Davos, said Wednesday that attacks against Israel and its interests by the “Axis of Resistance” would stop if the Gaza war ends.
“I’m extremely worried. I think we have both seen spread and escalation,” United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said at a WEF panel on the Middle East two days after the strike.
“I do believe Iranians do not want further escalation … I think they are playing with fire,” said Pedersen, who was listed on the Iranian foreign ministry’s website as one of the senior officials with whom Amirabdollahian would meet in Davos.
Amirabdollahian did not respond to Reuters’ questions at Davos. Iran’s foreign ministry could not be reached for comment.
The United States and other Western nations accuse Tehran of supplying drones and equipment to the Houthis and Russia for its war in Ukraine, as well as funding Hamas.
Iran says it supports the Houthis but denies arming them. While publicly acknowledging selling armed drones to Russia, Tehran says it has not provided any to attack Ukraine.
Kurdistan
The Irbil strikes also reminded the world of oil exporter Iran’s deep involvement in the politics of its neighbor Iraq.
The day after, a visibly upset Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani gathered members of his delegation and some media at the Kurdish House on the Promenade in Davos.
“What’s surprising — we are not a part of this conflict,” Barzani told reporters. “We don’t know why Iran is retaliating against civilians of Kurdistan, especially in Irbil.”
A close friend of Barzani, the multimillionaire Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee, was killed in the attack.
Iran defended the strikes, saying it had a “legitimate right to deter national security threats.”
Baghdad has recalled its ambassador from Tehran in protest and Sudani has called the attacks a “clear aggression” against Iraq and a dangerous escalation.
Sudani’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
U.S. impact
Be it in Davos or elsewhere, the difficulty of establishing dialog with Iran is its involvement in conflicts via proxies.
This strategy was designed by Qaseem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC’s foreign operations Quds force who was killed by a 2020 U.S. military strike on Baghdad airport.
Iran promised to retaliate.
“His legacy lives on; a network of deniable but deployable arms-length proxies across the region,” a Western executive working in the Middle East, who asked not to be named due to security concerns, told Reuters.
Soleimani was killed during the third year of Donald Trump’s presidency. The former U.S. president exited a nuclear deal with Western powers in 2018 and imposed new sanctions on Iran.
Tehran’s ability to fund wars hinges on its ability to generate enough oil revenue and Trump threatened to sanction all buyers of Iranian oil, slowing its exports to a trickle.
Under U.S. President Joe Biden, Tehran has steeply raised oil exports. Biden’s administration says it does not intend to lessen pressure on Tehran or allow its oil to reach global markets.
Tehran now exports more than 2 million barrels per day — 2% of the global supply — more than half of it to close ally China.
Biden, who polls indicate is likely to face Trump in the race for the U.S. presidency later this year, has refrained from tightening sanctions on Iran.
Energy analysts say Washington is keen to avoid a gasoline price rally, a sensitive subject in an election year. Biden has also failed to persuade Iran’s arch-rival Saudi Arabia to raise oil supply amid strained relations with Riyadh.
A top European oil executive in Davos said that if Trump returns for a second term it would be a game-changer for Iran.
“If Trump returns to the White House, he will make two phone calls. One to his “friend Saudi” to ask for more oil. One to China to ask to stop buying Iranian oil or face a new trade war. Then, things may start to change,” the executive told Reuters.